[pct-l] Sorta OT - Reaction to Abby Sunderland's Rescue

[David Ellzey]

So by now moist everyone knows about Sutherland's rescue. There was an article in the LA times about her reaction to people condemnation of her age and the season she made the attempt. Nothing really surprising until I started reading peoples comments. 

Take a look for yourselves at the LA Times Article: 
http://tinyurl.com/33mkznb

My company is working on a project that has made me look at how generation X and (even more so) the millennial generation are abandoning experiencing nature. One of the more disturbing factors is what I have come to call "The Fear" that people permeate in discussions regarding experiences that occur out in natural. Also, having just finished reading "Last Child in the Woods" as part of my research for this project it was especially poignant for me to read the comments from people about Abby's failed attempt.

All of my context for my research has been related to why young people are not hiking, camping, fishing, hunting or just playing in the local woods anymore. But the response in the comments of this article are also blatantly ripe with "The Fear" that parents are now passing on to their kids. 

Our daughter was 15 when she spent her first summer working a pack station in the central Sierras. My wife and I were not naive to the unique dangers she would be exposed to working with large animals over treacherous terrain but we were also certain it would be a rewarding experience for her that would help shape her in a way that High School could never do. I won't bother to go into all the details but she is 21 now and by far the most grounded person I have ever met in her age group.

So were Abby's parents reckless in supporting her quest to circumnavigate the world? You can guess my opinion, but I would like to hear from a group of people of whom most are not influenced by "the Fear".

BigToe